


Fallen Apples

by dinosaursmate



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Crack Fic, Fluff and Crack, Fox Direction, M/M, crack!fic, very mild peril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-20 23:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaursmate/pseuds/dinosaursmate
Summary: Harry dug his sharp teeth into the flesh of the hard, sharp fruit. The juice hit his taste buds and the memories came flooding back: the late summer evenings, air warm and fragrant, Harry and Louis curled up under this very tree, cleaning each other’s thin, summer coats.-Fate brings back to Harry someone he never thought he'd see again.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler: They're foxes.
> 
> As usual, [Sus](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/) kicked my arse as a beta. Thank you dear.
> 
> This is part of a prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Scream". To read the other amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/scream/works) and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, you can [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/2017_hl_prompt_challenge/works).

A blood-curdling scream rang out through the still night. Harry’s large ears twitched in interest, but only instinctively. He had no desire to answer the vixen’s call, and so he turned his attention back to hunting. This was his favourite rat-catching spot and he’d fought tooth and nail to claim this territory as his own. His home was nearby, a little den he’d dug for himself in some undergrowth. 

In the distance, he spotted Niall slinking off towards the sound of the scream. Of course he did. Never could focus on anything but vixens. Harry rolled his eyes, and shit, a rat ran past him and out of sight. His bushy tail twitched in irritation.

His stomach grumbled pitifully and he licked his lips, long tongue swiping over his snout. Another scream echoed painfully into Harry’s ears and he winced, before his ears pricked up and he turned his head.

He knew that call. He hadn’t heard it for six months - hadn’t expected to hear it ever again, if he was honest - but he’d recognise it anywhere.  _ Louis.  _ He tore through the park as fast as his legs could carry him, tearing through bushes and up trees, stopping as he reached the street to listen.

The silence was deafening. What if he’d midjudged the direction he needed to go in? Okay, so he knew that wasn’t likely. He had a strong instinct for this kind of thing, and despite his insecurities, he just  _ felt _ like he was close.

A brief scream made Harry nearly take off again, but it was just that bloody vixen. Harry found himself wondering if Niall would get there first as another scream rang through the air. Louis was somewhere to his left, and Harry turned and ran. He scaled a fence, and as he crossed the back garden, he felt something hit his left side and he went careering onto the grass, winded.

“Hi, Harry!”

Liam. He was a brute of a fox who didn’t know his own size or strength, but he was very sweet. He was Harry’s cousin or something, at any rate they had been cubs together and as annoying as Liam could be, he was a very endearing fox.

But the fact was, Harry didn’t have time to entertain Liam’s antics at the moment.

“Can’t stop,” Harry said, getting to his feet and making his way to the other fence. “Got somewhere to be!”

“Yeah?” Liam replied, eyes bright and twinkling, teeth bared and tongue lolling out. “Off to see a Vixen, are ya?!”

“Um-” Harry smiled tightly. “Something like that.”

Liam wished him well, and he was off again. He scaled the fence, reaching the top and looking out across the neighbourhood. He didn’t venture over here very much these days. Not since Louis had disappeared. These gardens were full of precious memories and Harry hadn’t exactly wanted to relive them. Now, though...

Harry suddenly realised that he knew where Louis would be. He didn’t need to hear him, was too far to smell him, but he knew exactly where to go. He dashed at full speed through three gardens, hurting his paw with how quickly he was scaling fence after fence, following the route that was ingrained on his brain.

And then he spotted it. The last time he’d seen it, it’d been a rare daytime trip. Harry padded silently across the lawn, approaching the tree. The grass underneath the branches was dotted with those big, green fruits, and Harry’s mouth watered. The fruit wasn’t the reason he was here though.

“Louis?” he called. “Louis, you’re here, aren’t you? Please say you are.”

His fur was puffed out with adrenaline and anticipation. He was being watched, he could feel it, and he supposed that’s why a rustling to the right startled him.  He jumped in surprise before a hefty weight tumbled onto him, someone pinning him down to the ground on his back. He looked up into Louis’ face.

“You knew where to find me.”

“Of course,” Harry breathed. “Where else would you be?”

Louis smirked. The full moon shone above them, coating Louis’ auburn fur in a silver shimmer. He was bald in patches, his eyes not as clear as they used to be and his left ear was a little torn.

He was just as beautiful as ever.

“I can’t believe you’re back,” Harry said as Louis finally released him, the both of them curling up against the tree trunk. “I missed you.”

Louis’ snout was twitching uneasily, seemingly trying to work out how to reply. He frowned before pawing at Harry’s shoulder.

“You hungry?” Louis asked.

Harry  _ was _ hungry, he remembered. He’d forgotten all about his appetite as he’d put all his energies into his pursuit of Louis. His stomach rumbled noisily causing Harry to grin at Louis. 

“Yes, I am.”

Louis stood up, surveying the fruit. He found a large, ripe, unblemished one and rolled it over to Harry with his nose.

“For you, Harry.”

Harry’s heart fluttered. He’d avoided gardens and parks with the green fruit as best he could over the past six months. Anything that reminded him of Louis was a no-go. Until now.

Harry dug his sharp teeth into the flesh of the hard, sharp fruit. The juice hit his taste buds and the memories came flooding back: the late summer evenings, air warm and fragrant, Harry and Louis curled up under this very tree, cleaning each other’s thin, summer coats. 

“Louis?” 

Louis looked up from his own fruit, gulping. His nose glistened with juice and Harry wanted to lean over and clean it off.

“Hm?” Louis replied.

“What happened?” Harry twitched his whiskers nervously. “Where did you go?”

Louis let his fruit tumble away from him, watching it detachedly. He sighed, curling up into himself and staring past Harry.

“That morning, we’d split up as the sun was just rising. Remember? You went back to your skulk, but I needed to find somewhere to sleep, since I had no family left. Well, I was cutting through a garden to get through the park, and I could smell the most delicious smell. I found it, and it was fish. My favourite. I ate it up, even though I wasn’t hungry. It was too good an opportunity. Except-”

Louis sighed heavily and Harry’s heart was beating wildly in fear. Louis smelt tense, licking his lips erratically and pawing nervously at the ground.

“Except-” he continued, “I was trapped. I thought I was in some undergrowth but the next thing I knew, I was being carried away in some kind of wire box. By a  _ human.” _

Harry gasped, baring his teeth. Fear coursed through him at the mere thought.  _ Poor Louis. _

“And then what happened?” Harry asked quietly.

“I was terrified, Haz. They put me in one of those car thingies.”

“Did they… do something to you?”

“No,” Louis shook his head, sniffing. “They took me to a place with loads and loads of trees and put me there and left me. There were so many animals. Hey, you ever eaten Mole?”

“No.”

“It was… _ different. _ ” Louis blinked at Harry. “Couldn’t enjoy it without you, though. And besides, the other foxes were  _ not _ happy about me showing up out of the blue. So…”

“So?” Harry asked quietly, his eyes wide and paying full attention to Louis.

“So I made my way back. It took me a long time. I was close to starving at times, and I nearly died from the cold when it snowed. I got in some trouble, some fights along the way, but I just knew I had to get back here, whatever it took.”

Harry stood up, padded over and pushed himself into the curve of Louis’ body, snuggling back against him. Louis curled around him tightly.

“You can come back to my den, if you like,” Harry said, feeling slightly nervous. “I’ll dig you out a little space. It’s lovely there.”

“If I’m with you, everywhere’s lovely.”

They gorged themselves on fruit before Harry proudly brought Louis back to his den, widening his sleeping quarters to accommodate Louis. He showed Louis where he hunted rats, and where he sometimes liked to sunbathe when he was awake in the daytime. As the sun started to rise, they snuggled up together in Harry’s - Harry’s  _ and Louis’ -  _ den, surrounded by undergrowth and as he fell asleep, Harry couldn’t believing his fortune to have Louis back with him.  _ There are vixens everywhere, _ Niall would say when Harry missed Louis. One hundred vixens couldn’t take the place of Louis, though. Harry felt his tail twitch with happiness, and he drifted off to sleep, the sound of Louis’ heartbeat thumping in his ears.

**Author's Note:**

> I mean. Yeah. So anyway, please [reblog the tumblr post](http://dinosaursmate.tumblr.com/post/156678881401/fallen-apples-by)! xx


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